Just got back from Kansas on my first trip since the course was closed from Labor Day until Memorial Day. Some minor changes have occurred, both by the hand of man as well as the hand of God.
- Greens regrassed with the latest/greatest bentgrass (Main reason for the closure).
- Second green minor recontouring by Coore and Axeland. Back right was flattened a tad to create another hole placement. Certainly more noticible than I thought. for those who have not been there, it is one of the most severe greens you will ever see.
- "Gate" trees on 12th hole have been thinned out tremendously due to wind and ice storms that hit this winter. Still in play but much less so than before. For those that didn't like the tree gates, I think you will like it much better.
- In the same storms, large trees near 8 and 6 tee boxes didn't make it. Due to this, a new tee box is being built behind and to the right to the current tee, adding length and changing the angle a bit in the tee box. I think that it will be a great addition, especially with technology making the hole play so much shorter. The hole was not meant to be played from over the last hill.
- I had heard that some minor fairway reconturing was supposed to happen but if it did, I couldn't tell where.
- fairway widths have not been changed back to pre-US Senior widths as of yet.
One interesting note on this is that this trip was the first time I have played PD in REALLY severe wind. Normal wind there is a 15-20 mph, but on this trip, the last two days were 30 gusting to 40 mph. One thing the wider rough area does do is keep partially errant shots from reaching the gunsch so prevalent on the golf course. On this trip it was really helpful on the cross wind holes, where any sort of side spin was magnified so greatly. The other thing the rough does is that it makes shots into the wind holes play a bit easier because it takes so much spin off. I never thought that narrower fairways could ever help the average player, but I really believe that on this course it actually might, especially on strong wind days.
The more I play there, the more I appreciate each and every hole. Certainly Perry's greens/holes are superior, but I think Press's are quite good, and 11, 13, and 16 are are truly outstanding holes (and quite underrated). A trip to Hutchinson is something every GCA'er should do if they can...